Man who gave bruising beating to girlfriend’s daughter with special needs was depressed, says defence

SINGAPORE: Defence lawyers for a couple hauled to court over a bruising beating of an 11-year-old girl with special needs on Thursday (Sep 12) asked for jail terms that are at least a third of what the prosecution is seeking.
Defence counsel also revealed that the man behind the “discipline” with a cane, belt and slaps was suffering from major depressive disorder at the time, and asked the judge to take this into consideration.
The girl has high-functioning autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). To protect her identity, all parties in the case cannot be named.
Despite the man’s initial good relationship with the victim, he began caning her for perceived misbehaviour for about six months before the beating that led to prosecution took place in August 2020.
The two 36-year-old Singaporeans stood in the dock together as their defence lawyer Mr Kalidass Murugaiyan implored the judge to impose four months’ jail for the man, and three months for the woman.
The prosecution is seeking 12 to 14 months for the man and 10 to 12 months for the woman.
The man was stony-faced, while the mother of the victim sobbed and wiped her tears with her collar as her lawyer spoke about how she felt she had failed as a mother.
The judge adjourned the case for sentencing, saying he wanted to consider the sentences, especially the weight he should give to the man’s depressive disorder.
According to the defence, the victim’s mother went through “a very difficult marriage” and had difficulty managing her life.
She met her co-accused in 2019, who became a part of her life and her daughter’s life.
Initially, the man had a good relationship with the girl, who called him “Daddy” on occasion.
The couple knew that the girl had high-functioning autism, mild fluency disorder and dyslexia.
However, she was diagnosed with ADHD only after the offences, with the couple’s lawyers saying they did not know she had this condition.
The couple began using a hanger to beat the victim from February 2020, thinking she was misbehaving.
They later began using a cane. They also considered other methods of dealing with her, including removing her privileges, asking her to write lines and getting her to face the wall or stand in one spot.
In June 2020, the couple caned the girl’s thigh because she had not completed her home-based learning assignment.
The next month, the man caned the girl’s legs because she did not wake up or turn off her alarm for school.
On Aug 10 that year, the man punished the girl by making her stand with her bag on her back for half an hour because she did not want to do her homework.
Around Aug 11, he caned her arms and legs because of perceived misbehaviour. The cane marks were spotted by the girl’s teacher, who scheduled a meeting with the girl’s mother on Aug 26.
Around Aug 13, the man caned the girl’s arms because she complained about having to do chores.
A few days after that, the couple caned the girl because she slept in class and did not return home immediately after school.
The man also caned the girl’s arms and legs because of perceived misbehaviour on Aug 20. 
Throughout the caning, the girl’s mother was always present and allowed the man to proceed.
Around Aug 22, 2020, the man caned the girl’s arms and legs because she was performing poorly in school and was asking her teachers for pocket money, which she had lost.
The girl’s mother told him that the cane would not work.
This caused the man to lose his temper. He fetched a leather belt, slapped the girl’s face and hit her about 20 times with the belt, using the end that did not have a buckle.
The girl sat down to avoid the blows, but wound up getting struck on the face.
The beating left her with marks and bruises on her face, arms and legs. Her mother had stood by the whole time.
Two days later, the girl’s teacher saw extensive bruising on her and spoke to her about it.
The girl shared about what the man had done, and said she was very scared to return home. 
The teacher flagged the incident and the school called the Ministry of Social and Family Development.
The victim was taken to hospital that same day by a child protection officer, and the hospital referred the case to the police.
The girl was hospitalised for 10 days.
The couple admitted during investigations that they had gone overboard and punished the girl very harshly. 
The girl later stated in a report that she had been feeling sad and fearful since the abuse, and had been having nightmares and recurrent thoughts about the abuse.
The man pleaded guilty to one count under the Children and Young Persons Act of ill-treating the victim by causing her unnecessary physical pain, suffering and injury.
The girl’s mother admitted to one count of knowingly permitting her daughter to be ill-treated by her boyfriend.
On Thursday, Deputy Public Prosecutor Niranjan Ranjakunalan acknowledged that a psychiatric report from the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) stated that the man’s capacity to exercise self-control and restraint was affected by his depression.
He said the prosecution has factored this in as mitigating in their submission on the sentence to be given.
However, he said the IMH psychiatrist found that the man was still aware of the wrongfulness of his actions.
The prosecutor sought a downward adjustment for the woman’s sentence, noting that she did not personally hit her daughter in the final incident.
However, she also did not have a mental condition like her boyfriend did, he noted.
Defence lawyer Mr Murugaiyan said the couple was aware the girl had special needs, but said she was in a “normal stream” in a “mainstream school”.
He said there was a “sort of escalation” in terms of problems they were having with the girl.
It started with writing lines and having a fixed routine, but “unfortunately” progressed to caning.
Mr Murugaiyan argued that this case is set apart from other cases because the man was suffering from major depressive disorder at the time, and had been suffering from it for “some time even before the incident”.
When the judge queried him on whether he was saying that the depression would warrant a “downward revision of more than half” the sentence, the lawyer agreed.
“He was mentally very unwell at that time. It had contributed to why he behaved the way he did,” said Mr Murugaiyan.
He said the victim’s mother confided in her boyfriend about the problems she had with her daughter, and when she was not able to discipline her in the manner she wanted.
He said the woman found that her boyfriend was starting to take on the mantle when it came to disciplining the child.
On the day of the final incident, the woman felt “helpless”, “blanked out” and on the verge of a breakdown, said the lawyer.
“She feels … she has failed as a mother, and is overwhelmed with guilt,” said Mr Murugaiyan, as the woman began crying in the dock. 
“She realises that what has happened is going to cause a long-term fracture in her relationship with her daughter and it’s something she hopes to mend.”
The couple will be sentenced next week.
CNA has contacted the Attorney-General’s Chambers on what has happened to the victim since.